2013 Tony Awards Opening: 5 Reasons NPH Is the Best Awards Host

5 Reasons NPH Is the Best Awards Host

Last night, Neil Patrick Harris returned (for the fourth time) as host of the 67th Annual Tony Awards, and if you happened to catch his extremely impressive opening number, you now know why NPH is, without a doubt, the best awards show host there is.
During the 7-minute performance, NPH performed magic and acrobatics - and even shared the stage with Mike Tyson - all while singing and dancing.
If you've yet to watch the opening number, you can check out the entire thing below. Now, continue to find out why this performance proves NPH is the best awards host there is.
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'Pippin' Ain't Easy

Shortly after kicking-off his opening number, NPH revealed his first real feat of awesomeness. Yes, jumping through a hoop! While taking a very brief pause from singing the musical number, NPH jumped through a hoop: not head first, not feet first; NPH cannonballed it!
He landed it like a champ, dropped a "Pippin" reference and moved on like it was nothing. Why? Because he can.

High Flyin'

For some reason, hoop jumping just wasn't enough for NPH. After hitting a few dance moves, NPH headed over to the cast of "Bring it On: The Musical" and took top spot as a "flyer"... while still singing. NPH even landed the dismount while still singing. Why? Because he can.
Here's a fun fact about "flyers" from Wikipedia: "The flyer must control their own weight by keeping their abdominal muscles tight to stabilize the spinal column while in the air. They must keep a steady focus on what they are doing."
NPH was singing.
"Flyers are typically the shorter and leaner people on the team, but other members can act as a flyer depending on their exceptional abilities."
NPH is 6ft - and exceptional, apparently.

Magic Mike

You've probably heard about Mike Tyson pretending to bite NPH's ear off during the opening number. Sure, that happened, and they both nailed it. But that wasn't the best part.
The best part was when Tyson made his exit like a champ - of the stage, not the ring. Tyson made an exit that would make The Rockettes jealous, high knees and all.
Sure, this is more on Tyson than NPH, but you can tell that NPH helped make sure Tyson's cameo was memorable.

The Impossible Run (Magic Trick)

Of course there's magic! Why? Because NPH is the President of the Academy of Magical Arts, that's why - and because he can.
While taking a 20-second break from singing, NPH made himself disappear from the stage and appear in the crowd. Now the magic trick, itself, isn't all that amazing - but watching NPH pull it off sure is.
Here's why: No matter how NPH got off the stage, he had to run to the place where he was going to appear, which happened to be quite far from the stage. What's so hard about that, you ask?
NPH picked up singing right as he made his appearance and had to sing and dance his way back to the stage. Sure, you can tell that he's slightly out of breath, but he pulled it off.

The Finale

As the opening number comes to a close, NPH pulls a "King Kong" and climbs atop the giant Tony Award, hangs off the side and belts out the final notes.
Though it doesn't seem that difficult, you have to remember that NPH did this after having already performed for the past 7 minutes straight.
Of course, what happened next makes it even more impressive because, as it turns out, NPH had to hang there longer than he originally expected. Why?

The Standing Ovation

Because after the 7-minute opening number was over, the audience celebrated the performance with a 1-minute standing ovation - and this occurred during a live broadcast.
And since time allotment is always important with live broadcasts, you've got to give NPH, as well as the director, credit for letting the applause play itself out, as it was rightfully earned.

Conclusion

Does an awards show host need to do magic or perform acrobatics in order to be considered the best? Absolutely not.
What an awards show host needs, is the ambition and skill to pull off a performance worthy of the talent being celebrated. In this case, NPH went above and beyond, and everything was executed perfectly.
Sure, Hugh Jackman is still able to challenge NPH as top host, but until Wolverine starts jumping through hoops (literally), he's going to have to take a backseat to the man once known as Doogie Howser, M.D.
You can check out the opening number, again, below:
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Wow! Amazaing, he is so talented. He should be presenting the Oscars. Seth MacFarlane’s attemp was boring, not so funny and too much of himself showing off he can sing and dance. He is not even in the same league as Barney!

Wow! Amazaing, he is so talented. He should be presenting the Oscars. Seth MacFarlane’s attemp was boring, not so funny and too much of himself showing off he can sing and dance. He is not even in the same league as Barney!